This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating
violence against women and domestic violence (CETS No. 210) is based
on the understanding that violence against women is a form of gender-based violence
that is committed against women because they are women. It is the
obligation of the State to fully address it in all its forms and
to take measures to prevent violence against women, protect its
victims and prosecute the perpetrators. The United Kingdom signed
the Convention in 2012 but has failed to ratify it in the past seven
years.
The United Kingdom is one of 13 member States which have not
yet ratified this Convention. The United Kingdom Government has
said it will not ratify the Convention until the United Kingdom
is compliant and it must set out a timetable for the Domestic Abuse
Bill which it has said will make the United Kingdom Convention-compliant,
and for the ratification of the Convention.
It should be noted that the United Kingdom is not compliant
with the provisions of the Convention in areas including but not
limited to protection for migrant women who are victims of domestic
abuse, further to Article 4.3 of the Convention, and protection
for women and girls in Northern Ireland who are victims of coercive control
further to Article 34 of the Convention.
Seven years on from the United Kingdom signing the Istanbul
Convention, the Parliamentary Assembly should therefore recommend
to the Committee of Ministers to call on the United Kingdom Government
to take all necessary steps to ratify the Convention without further
delay and to take all measures necessary to ensure the United Kingdom’s
compliance with the Convention.